Buca

I went here in February 2010 and wrote the review, but lost it. Now, over a year later, I found it. Since it’s been a long time since I dined with my family at Buca, forgive the shortness.

I started with a cheese board, and of course said yes when I was offered a balsamic drizzle (I was excited, my mom couldn’t believe the price). The buffalo ricotta tasted like a fluffy white cloud and I almost fell asleep eating it because it was so dreamy! The pizza was white crust (not as close to as good as the spelt crust at my favourite Pizzeria Libretto), and was so cool because it was served on a wood board with shiny scissors to cut it instead of struggling with a knife. The restaurant and space and service was better than the food. The staff were really nice too.

Enoteca Sociale

Enetoca Sociale is a great restaurant, where we go if we can’t get a table at Pizzeria Libretto. When we got there, we were early and saw them covering up a bullet hole in their window, and when we asked them why it was there they said it was someone from the nightclub across the street who had a gun and shot a hole in the window and went through the curtain too. It sort of bothered me because there was a bullet hole and sort of creeped me out, but glad they put a sign up over it.
We had to wait a while for our table while the waiters and waitresses were running through last minute preparation, but the staff there are very nice. I love their cheese menu and the waiters and waitresses make recommendations for me. My mom likes me to only get sheep and goat milk cheese, and my favourite so far has been, Grey Owl. It was a soft cheese served on the board with honey and crackers. I usually get 3 cheeses, but I would like to get 5. They divide the cheeses on the special menu into categories, like soft, hard, medium, and blue. Things like apricots and honey come with the cheese (I gave the apricot thing to my sister because I didn’t like it).
I don’t eat meat at home,or white stuff like pasta, but when the ingredients are clean and fresh then my mom lets me choose whatever I want and I LOOOVE the Spaghetti Carbonara, which has pieces of pancetta in it. And best of all, it didn’t make me really thirsty afterwards (well, overly thirsty anyway…I’ve had to cut back on the prosciutto at Libretto because it makes me insanely thirsty and gets stuck in my orthodontics).
I also realized that I liked fiddleheads, they are way better than asparagus in my opinion, which we seem to get at home everyday when it’s in season! The chickpea fritter dish with mushrooms and lentils on the bottom was delicious. We all shared it even though it was my dad’s dish.
Next time I go there, I am going to ask if I can see the cheese cave (it says on the menu “from our very own cheese cave” and I saw it when I went to the bathroom downstairs but didn’t get to go in).
Enoteca Sociale is a very good restaurant, and I love it there.

Earth

Earth is a very nice restaurant with a very nice atmosphere to go with it. The food is supposed to be mostly organic and local (but see further on for aggravating exceptions!). We go to Earth many Saturdays now with my 97 year old great-grandfather and he loves it there. It’s close to where he lives, they take reservations and can accommodate large groups (sometimes lots of family goes!), it’s quieter (since there is carpet), the seating is very comfortable and they have a coat check.
My mom loves the tea since it’s organic and loose leaf and comes in a pot, and I love ordering the baker’s basket because the cakes are amazing and melts in your mouth. I can’t believe I am allowed to get it since it has sugar and stuff in it. But restaurants are a treat, and sometimes I get french fries too. My favourite thing to order are the eggs benny with cured trout (hollandaise on the side always – I eat it with the french fries but don’t like it on top). The eggs are always hot and done well, I love sticking my knife into the egg and watching the yolk come streaming out. I once asked for ketchup, and I asked which kind it was, but unfortunately they said it was Heinz and when my great-grandfather asked for orange juice they said it was Tropicana – what is the deal with this? If they are organic, local, and sustainable, why have all of this crap there? (hopefully after they read this, they’ll get better products or make their own like their baked goods!!!!). I also have had the omelette of the day, and decided that although I LOVE mushrooms, I do not like truffled mushrooms because they were way too rich. And, I never say that. Their potato salad is amazing, I love the fresh herbs in it. My dad has the same food as me a lot, my sister loves the french toast with lots of maple syrup and my little brother usually eats scrambled eggs, some of my mom’s salad and some of the “donish” (he calls a danish a “donish”), but mostly he plays the ipod touch so we can leisurely eat our meal.
You should know, there is a private dining room that would be good for dinners and gatherings. Earth is a very nice restaurant, but they need to wise up on their ketchup and orange juice and probably some other things in the kitchen.

Loving Hut

Loving Hut is a very rare find! Organic, Vegan, AND Nut Free! It is a good place for lunch, but maybe not for dinner (because of the decor – see further on for more). They have great food, especially the Spring Rolls. I usually get the BBQ Spring Rolls Noodle, which is awesome! But it didn’t even come close to how good the Sweet and Sour Fireball was. My mom and sister like the Wonton Soup with bok choy. Loving Hut’s Spadina location is a little bit tacky because there are balloons and big TVs everywhere (supreme master television stuff, which I don’t really know what it is but it’s weird), and it makes it hard to concentrate on your meal. The menu has great descriptions. Even if your child can’t read, there are pictures of the items on the back! My sister, who usually doesn’t eat all that much, likes it so much that she ate almost everything! We rarely get to eat desserts at restaurants because it wouldn’t be safe from nuts, but here they have Sweets from the Earth cookies and cakes so we’re able to have!!! Loving Hut is, once again, a really rare find!